By Jim Waldron – Originally published in the 1995 Founder’s Review
It doesn’t take a lot of detective work to find out who started the current walking trend at Lake Lillian in Belleview. Just go down to the lake any afternoon around 6 p.m., and chances are you can spot Rachel Davis, Bessie Claytor, and Joann Abshier (pictured above and on the cover) walking around Lake Lillian, just as they have been doing every afternoon since 1987.
“I was having trouble with my arthritis, and I started walking every afternoon to see if it would help,” said Mrs. Abshier. “It did help, and so I have just continued to walk.” She was joined by her sister, Rachel Davis, and later Mrs. Claytor joined the walkers.
“Of course, there were no trails when we started. We would just walk around the lake on the edge of the road. “We estimated that 10 laps would be 2 miles,” she said. “To keep track, we would put a rock on the bumper each time we passed.
“Then one day, some children were playing and knocked our rocks off the bumper, and we lost count. After that, we just carried the rocks in our hand.”
Their walks did not go unnoticed. Friends would stop and join them. It wasn’t unusual to have 15 people walking along the road in the afternoon.
The walkers were also noticed by Paul Anderson, who lives near the lake and was a City Commissioner at the time.
He applied for a state recreation grant to develop the lake. It took 2 years, but with the help of former State Rep. Dick Locke, the state provided enough money to build walking and bicycle trails, a new fishing dock, picnic areas, and a children’s playground.
“I thought the walking trails would be used, but I didn’t have any idea they would become as popular as they have,” said Anderson.
Today, hundreds of people are using the trails from daylight to dark. “The trails make it a lot nicer,” said Mrs. Abshier. “It’s a lot safer for one thing. Cars would speed around the lake, and we were always afraid of being hit.”
The trails are also measured and marked for distances. You don’t even need to carry rocks to mark the laps.
